Costumers of Hippie Mama Gifts now have a store where they can shop in person.
The local business started as an online gift basket company in 2020, featuring Canadian made items from local entrepeneurs.
“Not just in Manitoba, but across Canada,” said owner-operator Jenna Scheller.
About a year-and-a-half later, Scheller started making her own bath and body products, because they proved to be the most popular items in the gift baskets.
“And eventually, I combined the two parts of the company and now opened a store,” she added.
Scheller’s son was born with eczema and when he had a bad rash, they would be given a prescription for a cortisone cream or steroid cream.
“And that’s not a natural alternative. So I decided to start making my own bath and body products to try and help treat his eczema and that’s how it all started,” she explained.
All of Scheller’s products are made from scratch.
“I don’t even use bases. A lot of companies will use a bubble bath base or a base for shampoos, whereas each and every ingredient I put into my products is weighed by me and melted and created,” Scheller said, adding it takes time to make her products. “My whips take 24 hours. It’s just a matter of the heat phase and the cooling phase. There’s items like the lip balms that take about 15 minutes to make 12 of them,” she said.
“So it is time consuming either way, but as my little company has grown, I’ve learned how to batch out larger and larger batches. So I get a lot more on the shelves.”
All of the ingredients Scheller uses for her products are purchased from Canadian companies and her products are available all across Canada on the company’s website, hippiemamagiftshop.com.
The first cross-Canada product she sold went to Nova Scotia, followed by an online order from British Columbia.
“And I thought that was so cool that I had reached either side of Canada. And now I ship all across and a lot of the time, locals will come in and buy my products and ship them across Canada themselves,” Scheller said.
Based on demand, Scheller decided to open a store, which is located at 119 Main Street North, next door to CIBC.
Customers had started appearing at her home and she wanted to keep her home and business separate for privacy.
“And I wanted to open up a store, because I wanted people to be able to come in and actually smell the products and see the products. And I also wanted to be able to have a location where local makers could come in and meet. It would just be a whole vibe, I guess, just like a movement that would support the community,” Scheller said, adding she is also offering coffee, as well, though that is not the main focus of her business.
When Scheller started her company online, one of the gift basket items she featured was Forbidden Flavours coffee from Brandon.
“So for me, getting into coffee was a no-brainer. I also know that this area of town, there’s a lot of people that don’t have vehicles. So it would be nice to have somewhere to walk, just to grab a quick cup,” she said, adding she hopes to get more people into her store to look around while they enjoy a cup of coffee.
While offering her own wares, Scheller is also offering her support to local youth artisans.
Based on her own experience, Scheller knows how difficult it can be to become established, so she is lending a hand to local youth artists and crafters by offering a corner of her store dedicated to selling their products.
“I remember when I got my first product in a store and my heart was just so warm and I felt so special. So I want to be able to provide that feeling to somebody and give it to them at a young enough age that they can figure out who they want to be and what they want to grow into and really experience and explore their artistic side,” she said, adding all proceeds are returned to the youth.
Hippie Mama Gifts can be found on Facebook and Instagram, where she not only promotes her own products, but those of the makers of products that are available in her store, as well.
Scheller plans to recognize a Maker of the Month, featuring someone whose products are in her store and she hopes to host workshops, as well.
For now, Scheller is working on her own, but she eventually hopes to hire someone to help out around the store.
“The dream a year ago was to have a store front. And now that I have the store front, I would love to be able to have somebody working here fulltime eventually, taking over the floor, helping with my creating, and possibly opening up another shop in another town. That’s the next dream,” she said.
Scheller does offer delivery within the city of Dauphin on Thursdays, but anyone ordering products online can pick up their orders at the store.
“There will be a delivery fee of $5 for me to deliver to you in town on a Thursday and it will be between six o’clock and eight o’clock,” she said.
Hippie Mama Gifts is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. But come summertime, Scheller may adjust those hours.
Sunday to Tuesday is when she takes time to make her products. But if Tuesdays work best for people and they want to come in themselves, she will take appointments on that day.
Scheller held her grand opening, Mar. 25, and so far the response has been amazing.
“Really, really great. I didn’t expect to get this amount of support from the community. I was super overwhelmed the first day and I thought, ‘okay, the second day will calm down.’ Nope, it’s been the same every day,” she said. “I know it’s a new shop and it has a different vibe to it, so people are very interested. And it’s a lot of customers that have been ordering off of me for the last three years that I’ve never had a chance to meet. It’s really great to put a face to the names in those conversations that I’ve had. So it’s going very, very well. The support is there.”
Scheller credits the support from her customers for getting her to where she is today, the proud owner of her own shop.
“I’m still blown away at the fact that I have a store. I can’t believe that the amount of support in the community in the last three years has got me here. And it is all because of them,” she said.
